KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) will not think twice about replacing poorly performing third-party service providers of subsidiary Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
MAG group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail said two service providers have not been able to keep up with Malaysia Airlines' standards.
"Those are the people which are pulling our reputation down…While Malaysia Airlines remain steadfast on driving customer experience, our service providers are not helping us," Izham said in an interview.
The New Straits Times is reaching out to the service providers identified by Izham. It will identify them after getting their response.
Izham said MAG is looking to invest a portion of its RM4.7 billion cash balance to migrate some of Malaysia Airlines' services in-house while at the same time work with new service providers for certain services.
"We're looking at all options ....," he said, reiterating that the poor service provided by the vendors is at the consumers' expense.
With rising airfares due to higher operational costs, Izham said it is MAG's responsibility to ensure constant excellent service quality to its travellers and push the vendors to maintain their standards.
However, Izham said it will take about 12 months to change to a new service provider as the new vendor would need time to be trained.
Izham said Malaysia Airlines is also facing challenges with the delay of new aircraft seats by its original equipment manufacturers due to the global supply chain issue.
"You order new (aircraft) seats for example, it takes 12-18 months to receive the seats because of the supply chain issue. Raw materials are not coming in. There are not enough workers at the factory that produces the seats.
"If you order new aircraft, it's not just you order and the airplane will arrive. You've got the factory, the seating, the tweaking.. It all takes time," Izham said, adding that by 2025, Malaysia Airlines would have a refreshed, elevated customer experience.